I wanted to try useing ONLY gelatos,However, on the Doodle Buds stamps themselves, gelatos just got TOO smudgy! I think thy worked well enough for the flowers but I ended up stamping the leaves in OLIVE ink from SSS. The sentiment and zippy doodles were inked in Black.

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Hello! Hope your weekend has been a Fabulous one!
Oh how I have missed those Tuesday Triggers :( from MOXIE FAB World. However, one day I happened upon a post from the lovely Lin to find some super news!
Did you know Cath Edvalson has a challenge of her own at her blog Hip & Hooray?
YAY! We can play again with the Trendy/Inspirational images Cath chooses twice a month!
Here is my card for Tuesday"s Take #4.

I thought of using the flourishes from AUTUMN ADORNMENT to create a Frame of sorts...WOW Pearl Silver and Pearl White work beautifully on PTI True Black cardstock. The Sentiment is embossed in WOW Opaque Bright White.

The leafy drapes from EMBELLISHED ELEGANCE compliment the the frame in shades of Orange/red/pink and yellow. I first die cut the the images out of PTI Linen Vellum and then colored the coordinating stamps with Zig markers, gave it a light spritz of water and stamped the dies.

The video from Betsy Veldman was very helpful in creating the Faux Chalk Art look.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

So here is my Organic interpretation of the watercolored Triangles in the inspiration photo:)

I have MANY watercolored practice pieces about my desk from Exploring Mediums Watercolor OLCC. Creating SOFT Smooshed BGs has been a challenge and leaving plenty of white space is something I need to work more on.

The PTI Branching Out Die captured some of the lovely Hues from a BG that I thought had gone all wrong.

I tipped the leaf edges in Brushed Pewter Distress Stain for the shimmer.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Working with some new Stamps from Purple Onion Designs...Stacey Yacula's Critters were fun to mask and color. I've been practicing using the Distress markers and Zigs together in my watercoloring class. They seem to compliment each other on watercolor paper.

I was inspired by the wood-grain in the photo as well as the grouping of animals...Can a penguin be considered a forest friend?

I share this to give you HOPE when things go wrong with a coloring session.

I cut off the ill colored balloons. Stamped, colored and cut out the balloons and adhered them over the top of the panel shown above.. fussy cut around the gang of critters and stuck them into place! I used a white gel pen to color the strings of the balloons.

ALL BETTER!.

A TIP for YOU:)

This is what I use to make the stamps from Purple Onion Designs stick to my acrylic blocks.

One dose of Aleene's Tack-it all, let it dry and I'm good to go for years of grip:)

Friday, September 18, 2015

When I saw the card for the Muse challenge #133 by the Lovely Michele,... I was taken back to the days when I would cut class and look through Wallpaper books. The latest and trendiest books were always in the home where I grew up.

You see, my mother hung paper professionally for over 26 years. Mom's canvases were walls, ceilings, light switch and air return covers. She worked for the best designers in town and even hung paper in the Illinois Governors Mansion three times. Mom was that good..a perfectionist, something I'm not.

My favorite books always contained the floral prints, Flowers of all artistic styles and colors! This is where my love for paper began...

So back to Michele's card, here it is, SWOON!

Can you imagine that paper on the walls? Well I can! Butterfly and everything:) This lead me to search the far reaches of my little house and dig out some of the paper Mom and my DH hung on the kitchen walls of our previous home...Fortress of Solitude is what we called it.

With this beloved paper I made today's card for my Mom who will be turning 70 this year:))

I enjoyed fussy cutting the butterfly which reminded me of many hours spent with mom cutting out borders for here clients. I colored this butterfly with markers to make the hues more vivid.
The MOTHER is a Waltzing Mouse die I have been saving for this very card. I just hadn't the idea of how to use it until this week's MUSE. Thank you Michele for a very happy ending!